Three Smart Girls Grow Up

1939

Technical Information:

Studio:  Universal
Running Time:  1 hour, 27 minutes
Black and White
Video Availability:  Available on MCA/Universal home video

Cast:

Deanna Durbin...Penny Craig
Nan Grey...Joan Craig
Helen Parrish...Kay Craig
Charles Winninger...Judson Craig
Nella Walker...Dorothy Craig
Robert Cummings...Harry Loren
William Lundigan...Richard Watkins
Ernest Cossart...Binns
Felix Bressart...Music Teacher

Credits:

Original Screenplay...Bruce Manning, Felix Jackson
Director of Photography...Joseph Valentine, A.S.C.
Art Director...Jack Otterson
Associate...John Ewing
Film Editor...Bernard W. Burton
Set Decorations...R.A. Gausman
Gowns...Vera West
Assistant Director...Frank Shaw
Musical Director...Charles Previn
Vocal Instructor...Andres de Segurola
Orchestrations...Frank Skinner
Sound Supervisor...Bernard B. Brown
Technician...Joseph Lapis
Directed by...Henry Koster
Produced by...Joe Pasternak



    The wealthy Craig family is throwing a party and it is going to be little Penny's (Deanna Durbin) first formal one.  She and her two older sisters Joan (Nan Grey) and Kay (Helen Parrish) are excited.  They mingle with guests and Joan is pleased to see her boyfriend, Richard Watkins (William Lundigan) arrive.  Their father Judson Craig (Charles Winninger) also arrives, though he has left his mind at the office and totally forgotten about the party.  Just as Penny finishes singing a song, she finds out that Richard has just proposed to Joan.  She goes around and spreads the word.  Judson and his wife, Dorothy (Nella Walker) are delighted and wish them the best, though Kay is visibly upset by the news.
    That night after the party, Joan tells her two sisters how happy she is at the prospect of marriage, while Kay is still upset.  Penny wakes up during the night and finds that Kay, sobbing, is reading her diary.  She sneaks up behind her and reads some passages, all about Kay's love for Richard.  She throws the diary in the fireplace and returns to bed, never knowing that Penny was there the whole time.
    The next morning, Penny tries to tell her father what is going on but he won't listen.  Binns (Ernest Cossart) the butler does hear however, and offers her some advice.  He says that Kay will forget all about Richard if another "tall, dark and handsome" man came along, which sets the gears in Penny's mind in motion.  At music school, she tries to find someone "tall, dark and handsome" to fix her sister up with, and finally settles on Harry Loren (Robert Cummings) a friend of hers who plays the flute.  She invites him to dinner, and he accepts the invitation.
    That night, she raves about him to her sisters, who believe that Penny has a crush on him.  Before dinner Penny is upset when she finds that Harry is attracted to Joan and not Kay!  She yells at Harry, saying that he shouldn't be flirting with an engaged woman.  Her mother, embarassed at the scene she created, sends her to her room.  Joan and Kay tell their parents that Penny only got mad since she is in love with Harry, and was just jealous.  Dorothy decides that Penny should have her music lessons discontinued, so that she will no longer see Harry, thinking it will help the problem.
    Meanwhile, Penny decides to make the best out of the current circumstances, and just have her two sisters swap partners!  After singing for her father, she is told that her voice is terrible and that the music lessons are a waste of time.  Upset, she returns to her room where her sisters ask her about Harry, and why Penny is in love with him.  She leads them to believe that she actually is enamored of him, so that they won't suspect what she is up to.
    The next day, she goes to music school against her parents' orders, and tells Harry that Joan likes him a lot, and that the fact she is engaged means absolutely nothing.  Joan, arriving to pick Penny up, overhears the whole thing and accidentally, through a slip of the tongue, admits her love for Harry.  Satisfied, Penny and Joan return home, where Richard is waiting.  Joan informs her mother that Penny was at music school which makes her mad.  In order to cheer everyone up, Richard suggests going out to a nightclub.  Penny chooses Club 33, where Harry works as a pianist.
    At the club, Joan and Kay realize that Penny only brought them there so that she could see Harry.  Harry invites Joan to dance, which makes Penny happy.  While they are away, she tells Richard all about her other sister's feelings for him, which makes Kay very uncomfortable and embarassed.  Upset, she slaps Penny across the face.
    Penny refuses to talk to Kay all through the following day, when the wedding is being prepared.  Out on the terrace, Penny witneses Richard talking to Kay and touching her hand lovingly.  And when Joan accidentally uses Harry's name when she's talking about Richard, she realizes that her plan has worked.  She tries to tell her mother that the wedding must be stopped, but she won't listen.  So, she goes to her father's office, where he refuses to see all of his appointments so that he can listen to his youngest daughter, after ignoring her so many times in the past.  He agrees to help her, and later on, at the wedding, he leads Joan down the aisle and into a car parked outside, where Harry is waiting.  Joan and Harry are together, as are Kay and Richard, which suits a smiling Penny just fine!


Songs:

[Songs performed by Deanna Durbin in boldface]
"Invitation to the Dance" (Weber)
"La Capinera (the Wren)" (Benedict)
"The Last Rose of Summer" (Moore, Milliken)
"Because" (Teschemacher, D'Hardelot)

Reviews:

"Miss Durbin...is still her delightful self, a joyously half-grown miss with a fresh young voice."
    - New York Times

My Review:

    Three Smart Girls Grow Up is not one of my favorite Deanna films.  Even though it has its moments, the plot is rather corny and the music isn't exceptional.  Accordingly, this was the first Deanna film not to receive any Academy Award nominations.  It was a hit however, as was her song "Because," and is overall, only worthwhile viewing.

Notes:

This movie was a sequel to Deanna's debut film,  Three Smart Girls (1936).

As a throwback to its predecessor,  Three Smart Girls (1936), Three Smart Girls Grow Up features the same nightclub music from the first film as well as an instrumental version of Deanna's song "Someone to Care for Me" (which she sang in the first movie) as background music for the scenes taking place at Club 33.



Picture Credits:
1.  Video cover scanned by webmaster.
2.  Movie still scanned by webmaster.
3. Publicity still courtesy of Darlene Harris.


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